Lewis & Short

Parsing inflected forms may not always work as expected. If the following does not give the correct word, try Latin Words or Perseus.

sēm-uncĭa, ae, f. [semi; semuncia quod dimidia pars unciae, Varr. L. L. 5, § 171 Müll.], a half-ounce, i. e. the twenty-fourth part of an as.

  1. I. In gen., a twenty-fourth part of any whole: facit heredem ex deunce et semunciā Caecinam, Cic. Caecin. 6, 17: semunciae horarum, Plin. 2, 14, 11, § 58.
    Hence, transf., a trifle: bona ejus propter alieni aeris magnitudinem semunciā venierunt, for a trifling sum, qs. for a mere song, Ascon. ad Cic. Mil. fin. p. 54 Orell.
    Trop.: brevis semuncia recti, Pers. 5, 121.
  2. II. In partic., of weight, the twentyfourth of a pound: semuncia auri, Liv. 34, 1; Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 25, § 57: mellis, Col. 12, 57, 5; 12, 21, 2.
    As a measure of dimension, the twenty-fourth of a jugeruin, Col. 5, 1, 10; 5, 2, 4.
    1. B. A domestic utensil of unknown capacity, Cato, R. R. 10, 3.